Wednesday Briefs: May 27, 2015

Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.

A River Rendezvous by Avery Dawes

Despite the throbbing in his leg, Will shambled down to the shore, a towel slung over his left shoulder, a cup of coffee gripped in his right hand. His newly constructed bungalow had weathered last night’s wicked storms well, taking the abuse of the high winds and torrential rain with all the ease of a conditioned submissive—bowed, but not broken.

Will dried off the Adirondack chair and slid into the seat, sipping his steaming cup of java. A thin layer of fog shrouded the bay, muffling everything but the sound of the water lapping against the shore. He’d only lived on Maryland’s Eastern Shore for two months, but this had been the most peaceful time of his life. He kept waiting to miss the camaraderie of his SEAL Team brothers, but after his last tour in the sandbox, he’d had enough. The medical discharge only cemented the fact his military career was over. Nothing like having a semi-bionic leg. Grateful the doctors had saved his limb, he now wondered if having a prosthetic would be less painful than having one filled with an assortment of titanium plates and rods.

Ben slammed the posthole diggers into the bed of Mitch’s pickup. The crashing bang made Mitch wince. There was another dent to add to handful that had been added to his truck over the past few hours. Ben’s mood had started out badly, and gotten worse all day. But Mitch refused to soften up on the boy.

“Come on. We gotta fix the gate that Darrin’s prized bull decided to take out his frustrations on, and now we have to fix it,” Mitch said.

“I know how pissed off bull feels. Except I’d have fucked the damn gate so no dumb ass cowboy could get it working again.”

Bruce didn’t rush him, a gesture Jake appreciated more than he knew how to express. To show that Bruce’s sensitivity didn’t go unnoticed, Jake leaned into his body when Bruce patted his hair with the towel, then plugged in the hairdryer.

“I’m afraid I can’t style your hair to your usual neatness, but if that’s okay, I’d love to do this for you,” Bruce said, a small smile tugging his lips upward.

“Does that mean I overdo my styling, or are you just being kind?” Jake asked. He’d never have dared to ask a question like that before. Not that he’d ever been in this position before either.

At home, after recovering from the shocking news Ethan called Patrick and asked him to come over. As soon as he walked through the door, Ethan rounded on him. “Thanks to you, I’m now HIV positive. You are the first and only guy I’ve ever had sex with. I don’t know how, but only you could have infected me. You had to have known you were HIV positive.”

“Hey, what can I say? Yeah, I knew, but I wanted to fuck you without a rubber, so I did. I slipped you Rohypnol ’cause I knew you’d never agree to barebacking.”

Teddy came out of his fugue silently, but he reached between our seats and sank his fingers into my hip. I jumped, then ducked my head, avoiding my mother’s glare. Teddy’s grip ease immediately. Hopefully that meant whatever startled him wasn’t too serious, as the music was coming to a close, but there was no way to ask him any questions until after the concert ended.

The stage curtains came down after the last arrangement ended, hiding the orchestra from view. The lamps came on, and Teddy pulled away. I leaned toward him. “Are you okay? Is your shoulder hurting?”

Louis woke the next morning to the sun blazing through the large picture windows. He rolled over with a groan and pulled the covers over his eyes. He hadn’t woken up to sunlight in a few years, he had worked nights since he became a healer in Chapmistres View.

Realizing he was alone in bed he sent out a thought to locate his missing mate.

“I’m in the kitchen love,” came Cade’s reply. “Stay there and I’ll treat you to a great breakfast in bed.”

Now that their desires were out in the open, a certain aura of sensuality swirled around them, like lightning before a storm. The lightest of touches, accidental or not, was electric. An innocent remark became a sexually charged double entendre.

They still slept together, despite Lee’s threats to move Marshall back to the other bedroom. But Marshall realized he didn’t mean it, and the one time he actually tried, the nightmare returned. So that put an end to that.